The cost of two levees that protect St. Joseph and two nearby Kansas towns has reached nearly $67 million, and the price tag is likely to go up before construction begins in two years, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The corps updated the cost estimates for the levees, which were damaged in the 1993 floods, at a meeting Tuesday with interested parties, The St. Joseph News-Press reported. The estimated cost of the repairs in 2006 was $32.7 million.

David Kolarik, spokesman for the corps' Kansas City District, said reconstruction costs of the levee are not final. He attributed the cost increases to changes in the corps' design criteria, as well observations about how the levees performed during a 2011 flood.

"The additional requirements and features will ensure that the levee modifications provide life-safety improvements to the community, consistent with the original levee system intent," he said.

The west levee, which protects Elwood and Wathena, Kan., and Rosecrans Memorial Airport and the 139th Airlift Wing, will need to be raised 4.12 feet higher than its existing elevation, at a cost of $52.8 million. Design for the east levee, which protects St. Joseph, needs to be raised .94 feet, as well as a new gate structure, at a cost of $14.1 million.

St. Joseph city manager Bruce Woody said 35 percent of construction costs, or about $23 million, will be paid by the three districts that sponsor the levees: Elwood-Gladden Drainage District, St. Joseph Airport Levee District and South St. Joseph Drainage District. But he said cities and counties protected by the levees likely will help with the costs, although "those discussions haven't been had yet." Most of the rest of the money will come from federal sources.

Reconstruction of the levees is not mandatory, but Woody said it's essential to prevent more flooding and protect billions of dollars of assets on each side of the Missouri River. And if nothing is done, the federal government is likely to raise insurance rates on the Kansas side because that levee is no longer certified, he said.